48 PERSPECTIVES ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS | VOL 44 | 2026 changing regulations can cause mistrust in government and a perspective that nothing will be accomplished, so efforts to make systemic improvements dwindle. Deadlines are met in technicality, but real and lasting change is lacking, causing Croatia to fall further behind in policy implementation. Gaps in policy enforcement Enforcement gaps also contribute to a low level of recycling within Croatia. Enforcement of waste management regulations is, again, the responsibility of individual self-government units, as outlined in the 2021 Waste Management Act. As a result, although separate waste collection facilities have been established in most municipalities, high amounts of waste remain uncollected and leak into nature (World Wide Fund for Nature, 2019). There is a wide range of waste separation percentages, indicating a disconnect in enforcement. For instance, there was zero waste separation in municipalities like Zažablje, Kijevo, and Crnac while Domašinec touted a 68.8% separation rate as of 2023 (Požgaj et al., 2024). Also, some municipalities report high amounts of waste contamination, limiting the success of waste separation initiatives. Geographical challenges Geography similarly has a large impact on waste management throughout the country. In certain areas, the accessibility of waste disposal services is limited by geographical features. For example, mountainous regions like the Dinaric Alps along the coast limit access to large-scale waste collection and infrastructure. Also, some areas are more susceptible to environmental contamination, making the development of new waste management systems even more important. In Dalmatia, the water supply is only drawn from groundwater streams, which originate from Karst aquifers that can be highly sensitive to pollution and require special attention for the control of waste disposal (Novak, n.d.). As a result, proper waste collection is imperative to avoiding water contamination and resulting health and safety risks. Likewise, Croatia’s long Adriatic coastline can pose a geographical hurdle in waste management collection. Among the 1244 natural formations along the coastline are 49 permanently inhabited islands with approximately 130,000 permanent inhabitants (European Commission, n.d.-a). Each island, therefore, must either possess its own waste management system or ship its waste to the mainland, leading to further energy use. Geographic variation makes coordinated national standards even harder to enforce. Currently, municipalities are not incentivized to help each other in the management of waste to address these geographical issues, leading to the perpetuation of waste management problems. Local achievements in a fragmented government system Certain standout local governments have made large strides in their waste practices. Such successes should be celebrated but also serve as evidence of the underlying problem: Local government units are fragmented and success is not scalable. Each success worked because a single municipality focused its own resources and political will on addressing waste collection and disposal. No national mechanism exists to transfer what successful communities learned to those lacking their advantages. Local innovation without a way to scale defines the problem of a fragmented system. Some of Croatia’s touristic islands and cities have made significant strides toward decreasing their environmental impact and developing sustainable tourism. For instance, Zlarin, an island that previously struggled with high levels of single-use plastics, was able to reduce use by an estimated 113,000 thousand plastic bags; 12,000 disposable cups; and 37,000 other plastic disposable items as of 2018 (SMILO, n.d.). Dubrovnik and Trogir are the first two cities in Croatia to join the World Wide Fund for Nature Plastic Smart Cities Initiative with the goal of creating scalable solutions decreasing the use of plastics and improving recycling and reuse facilities. In 2024, Krk became the first island in Croatia, and the second island worldwide, to earn the title “Zero Waste Island,” a distinction recognizing its outstanding contributions to sustainable waste management, including 58% separate waste collection, 22% less mixed waste per capita versus the national average, implementing waste reduction measures and educational strategies, and creating new facilities to allow for effective local waste management (Zero Waste Europe, 2024). Several factors helped Krk gain its title and substantially decrease its waste production. For one, this achievement was a community effort and was made possible by pressure from island residents. It also placed an emphasis on building infrastructure and relying on innovation and enforceable policies to make tangible change. These changes were feasible on Krk due to an individual municipality’s community efforts and are not attributable to national policy, further illustrating that fragmentation leads some communities to successfully tackle waste management while others fall further behind. Additional work
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